There has been an alarming rise in road accidents

There has been an alarming rise in road accidents

There has been an alarming rise in road accidents, significantly highway accidents, in Bangladesh over the past few years. According to a study conducted by the Accident Research Center (ARC) of BUET, road accidents claim on average 12,000 lives annually and lead to about 35,000 injuries. According to World Bank statistics, annual fatality rate from road accidents is found to be 85.6 fatalities per 10,000 vehicles. Hence, the roads in Bangladesh have become deadly!

But these statistics, numerically shocking as they may be, fail to reflect the social tragedy related to each life lost to road accidents. One accident that remains afresh in my memory is the death of 44 school children last July, after the truck they were travelling in skid and fell into a pond. 44 young dreams and hopes lost due to reckless driving. Only a month after this tragedy, Bangladesh lost two brilliant citizens, filmmaker Tareq Masud and journalist Mishuk Munier, to yet another road accident in August. We, the people were shocked, angered and many led protests to the streets demanding immediate action to bring justice for those killed and to ensure road safety. But as from the lines quoted in the beginning from a daily newspaper, one can see that the most recent fatality figures express no progress!

A high growth in urbanization and motorization can be identified as one of the factors leading to the higher number of road accidents. Recent studies claim that the annual urban growth rate in Bangladesh stood at 4% in 2010, whereas the present growth in motor vehicles stands at 8%. Consequently, the road systems are experiencing greater congestion, physical deterioration and safety problems. According to a WB report, only 40% of the main roads (National Highways and the Zila Roads) are in good state.

The traffic police department has a crucial role to play in identifying and holding accountable reckless driving, speeding and unstable or overloaded vehicles. The maintenance, repair and expansion of roads coupled with setting up dividers on national highways, cautioning signals for hazardous locations, disseminating information on driving and road safety to masses through media and exemplary punishment for violating traffic laws are some of the main areas that need to be worked on rigorously by the government.

As citizens, we too have a role to play in ensuring road safety. While travelling in public transports, passengers should protest and stop speeding and reckless driving by bus and taxi drivers. Owners of motor vehicles should ensure that employed drivers have genuine licenses, are properly trained and drive responsibly. Road safety education to pedestrians, especially children, within the communities by community leaders is also a good way to promote road safety.

Introduction : According To CRP (Central Rehabitation For Parasailed )Bangladesh’s Website, ‘Statistics From The Road Safety Cell (RSC) Of The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Show The Annual Fatality Rate In Road Accident In Bangladesh Is 85.6 Per 10,000 Vehicles Which Compares To Rates Of Below 3 Per 10,000 Vehicles In Most Developed Countries. The Annual Death Toll In Road Accidents In Bangladesh Is More Than 5,000 People. Not a Single Day Passes in Dhaka When Some Types of Accidents, Fatal or Non- fatal, Don’t Occur on Its Roads. But Many Of These Accidents Are Avoidable. When Unnecessary Accidents Occur At Such A Level On A Very Regular Basis, It Is Hardly An Accident, But A System Made For Murdering Innocent People. From 2011 To 2014 Bangladesh Has Lost About 21,000 People In Road Traffic Accidents. A Clear Link Was Made Between Road Safety And Sustainable Development.’ And The Executive Summary Of The Report Thus Starts, ‘Road Traffic Injuries Are The Eighth Leading Cause Of Death Globally ….’ It Warns, ‘Current Trends Suggest That By 2030 Road Traffic Deaths Will Become The Fifth Cause Of Death Unless Urgent Action Is Taken.

Why is road safety a major concern?

▪A new epidemic: 1.24 million annual deaths / 20-50 million non-fatal injuries ▪ Consequences both humanitarian and economic 1-2% of GDP, 100 billion USD annual loss ▪ Urgency of prioritizing 5 million lives can be saved annually through road safety measures

What Is MFRTA?

MAJOR FATAL ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT (MFRTA) is defined as the single accident in which at least three persons are killed”. ▪ Annual deaths 3137 (official statistics: average for 2002-2012) 5162 (2013: Nirapad sarak Chai; includes deaths in route and after release) ▪ Fatality index (official statistics): - 20 deaths annually for each 10,000 vehicles (2011) - Decline from 75 deaths per 10,000 vehicles in 2000

A proper estimation of the economic cost of lives taken by road accidents in Bangladesh would surely reflect the considerable loss of addition to GDP. According to WHO, the economic cost of road accidents to developing countries is 2-3% of GDP. The thought crosses my mind, of those 44 and many other children killed in road accidents over the years, how many doctors, engineers, scientists, inventors and other future potential has the nation lost?

For a developing country like Bangladesh, allowing its citizen to perish to road accidents is not only tragic but unacceptable!

Over 2,400 deaths on roads this year-2018

At least 2,471 people were killed on roads this year, an independent body said today blaming unruly transport sector by large for the rally of the dead.

National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways prepared the report claiming that nearly 6,000 others were injured in 2,353 road crashes during the January-June 2017 period.

Among the victims, 643 are women and children, they said. In rally of the dead, 773 were pedestrians who were run over and 548 motorcyclists.

The organisation said 248 people were killed and 717 were injured in 211 road mishaps in 13 days (June 12 to 24) during the Eid journey this year.

Previously, Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity put the number to at least 339.

The committee said most of the accidents took place due to carelessness and whimsical attitude of the drivers of heavy vehicles including buses and trucks.

Lack of monitoring, increase of small vehicles, competition among drivers, and lack of awareness among pedestrians are to be blamed for the accidents, they said.

Road accidents killed 4,284 people in 2017

At least 4,284 people, including 516 women and 539 children, were killed and 9,112 others injured in 3,472 road accidents across Bangladesh in 2017. The fatal accidents took place on several highways and national, inter-district and regional roads across the country between January 1 and December 31. The National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways (NCPSRR), a non-government organization, on Monday revealed the information in its yearly survey and observation report. The report was prepared on the basis of news published in 22 national dailies, 10 regional newspapers and eight online news portals and agencies, said a press release. According to the report, the number of road accidents and casualties increased in 2017 compared to 2016. A total of 3,412 people, including 470 women and 453 children, died and 8,572 others injured in 2,998 road accidents in 2016. The report showed that the number of road accidents increased by 474 in 2017 compared to 2016 while the number of deaths rose by 872. As a result, the number of accidents increased by 15.82% and death toll by 25.56% in 2017 compared to that of 2016. However, the report showed that the number of road accidents came down in 2017 compared to 2015. The NCPSRR mentioned nine primary reasons behind the increased number of accidents and casualties. The reasons are reckless driving, plying of three wheeler-vehicles and motorbikes, carrying passengers and goods in locally-made mechanized vehicles, overloading and overtaking violating laws, not following traffic rules and regulation properly on long routes, long-time driving without break, huge risky turning points and dilapidated roads, non-enforcement of law to stop plying of unfit vehicles and employing unskilled drivers. Ashis Kumar Dey, general secretary of NCPSRR, said lack of proper supervision and people's awareness were the major reasons behind the high number of road crashes.

Road Accident and casualties Statistics (2009-2016)

Year	Number of Accidents	Death	Injury
2009	3381	2958	2686
2010	2827	2646	1803
2011	2667	2546	1641
2012	2636	2538	2134
2013	2029	1957	1396
2014	2027	2067	1535
2015	2394	2376	1958
2016(Up to July)	1489	1422	1289

Accident Statistics

▪Involvement Of Buses and Trucks in Multi vehicle Accident

Accident Statistics

▪Victims and perpetrators Victims Accident types Perpetrators Pedestrians 41% Hit-and-run 42% Bus 38% Bus/car passengers 19% Head-on collision 19% Truck 31% 2/3 wheelers riders/passenger s 16% Over-turned 13% Motor-cycles 12% Truck/bus drivers/passenger 14% Rear-end hit 9% Cars/jeeps 11% Cyclists 3% Side swipe 6% 3 wheelers 9%

Accident Statistics

▪Reality check on post-crash facilities Post-crash care Availability • Emergency room based injury surveillance system No • Emergency access telephone number No • seriously injured transported by ambulance <10% • Permanently disabled due to lack of facilities 13% • Emergency training for doctors No • Emergency training for nurses No • Trauma centers Severely inadequate

Accident Statistics

▪Post-accident needs Short-term/immediate Long-term Need Ideal provider Need Ideal provider • First aid Local people, vehicle staff, nearby medical Centre, adjoining local govt. reports • Compensation Courts, insurance companies • Transportation Local people, nearby medical Centre, police, • Long-term treatment Family, government • Protect people & vehicles Police, local leaders • Assistive devices Family, community, insurance companies • Compensation for victim Vehicle owners, Insurance companies • IG skills for disabled NGOs, social entrepreneurs • Employment for alternative family member Government, community

Accident Statistics

▪Driver characteristics Characteristic Finding License • 97% report having license • 20% report obtaining license without test • 92% pay bribe and 54% face severe time delays in obtaining license Trade union • 80% are unionized Training • 81% learnt driving skills through informal process usually with a ‘mentor’ (us tad) • Learning hours with ousted 1500 • Commercial learning hours is 93 Cost of training • Informal process: approx. Tk. 4000 • Formal process: approx. Tk 6000 Confidence on learning • 70% fully confident Work-load • About 20% extremely over-worked with 6-7 days weekly and 13-16 hours daily Accident penalty • 42% faced no penalty in case of accidents • 58% of incurred accidents minor in nature

Causes of Accidents

Bangladesh is beset with many problems and the root cause of all problems is over-population. Road accident is one of them and nowadays it has become national catastrophe or crisis for Bangladesh. Everyday road accident is taking away enormous innocent lives ruthlessly. Whenever we turn over the newspaper pages every day, we find such types of unexpected road crashes news. Day after day we are becoming helpless to the street accidents. Now it is the greatest concern for Bangladesh to reduce death tolls and injured people which are being occurred for sudden road accidents. It has even become dreadful to walk on the busiest roadside in the urban areas. Now I am trying to depict some causes of occurring road crashes briefly. No individual is responsible for causing road accidents singly. There are various reasons for occurring road crashes in Bangladesh.

• Mental, physical and financial pressures on drivers • General lack of road safety awareness • Absence of supplementary facilities on roads – hard shoulder, bus bays, helpful signal & markings, access roads • Failure to productively reconcile local economic growth needs with road safety needs

• Reckless driving • Untrained drivers • Unfit vehicles • Simultaneous operation of motorized and non-motorized vehicles without separation and adequate rules • Vulnerable road-side activities • Faulty road design • Poor traffic enforcement • Lack of road safety awareness and risky pedestrian behavior • Culture of impunity and poor legal redress Causes Of Accidents

•Most Frequent Accident Types ▪It is found that Head on type accidents which accounts for 39% of total accidents dominating the others. This is followed by Lost Control 34%, Rear end 16%, Hit object on/off road 7%. These four accidents types accounted for 96% of the total accidents. Hit object on/off road type of accident represents the highest rate of about 5.0 fatalities and 23.5 injuries per accident.

15. •Accident By Routes ▪ It is found that 24% of total fatal accidents are occurred in Dhaka- Chittagong-Cox's Bazaar (N1). Bogra-Rangpur-Dinajpur-Banglabandha (N5) which 13% & Dhaka-Sylhet (N2) highway 8% of total accidents.

16. •Accident By Routes

17. •Major Road Accident Causations ▪Accidents constitute a complex phenomenon of multiple causation. The ecological factors are classified into human and environmental factors. Out of 505 accidents reported in newspapers, accident factors are informed properly in 263 accidents. It is shown that 70 percent of accidents involved a human factor with 23 percent involving a road factor and just 7 percent involved a vehicle factor.

18. •Improving Road Safety Development Of Countermeasures: ▪ Direct Countermeasures ▪ Indirect Countermeasures

19. •Improving Road Safety Direct Countermeasures ▪ Improvement Of Shoulders ▪ Installation Of Median ▪ Treatment Of Road Side Objects ▪ Provision And Improvement Of Crashworthy Infrastructure ▪ Provision Of NMT Facilities ▪ Provision Of Paved Shoulders ▪ Intersection Design/Improvement ▪ Access Control ▪ Behavioral Modification ▪ Road Safety Audit ▪ Proper Road Maintain

20. •Improving Road Safety Indirect Countermeasures ▪ Controlling Speed ▪ Properly Trained Drivers By Authorized Centers. ▪ Emergency Medical Care ▪ Safety Improvement

21. And be careful…